South Korea's main opposition party has ratcheted up criticism of the prosecution and President Yoon Suk Yeol and rallied in support for its chairman, Rep. Lee Jae-myung, who has become the first incumbent leader of the main opposition party wanted for arrest.
Members of the Democratic Party of Korea held an outdoor rally denouncing the Yoon government and the prosecution in front of the National Assembly on Friday. It said about 2,000 people took part.
In a speech, Lee accused the Yoon administration of committing a "opposition party destruction" and claimed that the government is wasting its power without caring for public livelihoods.
“We have entrusted the power to the government to solve the problem of people’s livelihood, but the regime is only determined to hunt down the opposition party and eliminate its political opponents," said Lee.
"The reason we have to fight for is not to protect Lee Jae-myung, but to put up the democracy straight."
Rep. Jeong Chung-rae of the Democratic Party criticized the South Korean government at the Supreme Council meeting on the same day saying, “Is someone a gangster or a president if they try to remove political opponents with their power?”
Rep. Park Chan-dae described the Yoon government as a “prosecution dictatorship that surpasses the military dictatorship” at the Supreme Council meeting and denounced the investigation over Lee’s alleged corruption as the “investigation manipulated by the regime.”
In addition, Lee held an emergency meeting at the National Assembly on the same day and distributed 20-page rebuttal and explanatory documents against the prosecution's arrest warrant on him.
Meanwhile, the ruling People Power Party is demanding Lee cooperate with the investigation and forfeit his immunity from arrest.
"Instead of trying to solve the situation hiding behind the National Assembly's special immunity, (Lee) should respond to the court warrant review to prove innocence," Rep. Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party said during the party meeting, Friday.
The prosecution stressed the need for arrest, saying, "If lee is not arrested, there is a high possibility of (Lee) delaying the investigation and trial process and attempting to destroy additional evidence," through the arrest request document.
The Seoul prosecution service’s anti-corruption investigation bureau filed a request for Lee’s arrest warrant with the Seoul central district court, for alleged corruption, Thursday.
According to the Constitution, lawmakers cannot be arrested while the National Assembly is in session without the consent of the Assembly, unless they are caught red-handed.
To arrest an incumbent lawmaker, prosecutors should file a request for the arrest warrant to the court, the court should submit a request for consent to the government, and the government should ask for the consent of the National Assembly.
A request for consent to arrest Lee is expected to be reported at a plenary session of the National Assembly on Feb. 24, and a vote is expected to take place at a plenary session on Feb. 28.
The arrest consent request will be passed if a majority of the incumbent lawmakers attend to the plenary session and majority of them agrees. The Democratic Party currently holds 169 out of the 299 seats in the National Assembly, so the request is likely to be rejected unless some of its lawmakers vote against their own party chairman.
However, as the ruling People Power Party, the Justice Party, and Rep. Cho Jung-hun from the Transition Korea party, have already said they will approve the arrest request, only 28 lawmakers from the Democratic Party need vote for it for it to pass. Since the vote is by secret ballot, it will be easier for lawmakers to vote against party lines.
